Environmental engineering is currently a priority for the development of many large enterprises. What is it? Who are the "green engineers" and what does PPGI have to do with them? We spoke to an expert in this topic - Mr. Ilya Zavaleev, CEO of HPBS.
- You introduce yourself as a “green engineer”. What does it mean?
- A green engineer is a specialist in environmental, or "green", engineering. Such a title implies the possession of interdisciplinary knowledge, the ability to think systematically, to take into account economic, environmental and social factors in their work. Green engineer’s job is to advise documentation developers and architects at the stage of building design, to make recommendations, including on the selection of building materials, which will meet the tasks of environmental engineering.
- Your company HPBS specializes in environmental engineering and certification of facilities according to international standards. What is environmental engineering?
- Environmental engineering is a relatively new concept. This is an integrated approach to the design, modernization, repair and operation of various facilities - industrial and agricultural enterprises, residential buildings, and urban infrastructure. The goal of eco-engineering is the sustainable development of a system in three main areas:
1) reduction of the ecological footprint, that is harm to nature from human activity;
2) preserving people’s health and safety, increasing social responsibility;
3) economic efficiency of objects throughout their life cycle.
- Who needs environmental engineering and why?
- It's a very capacious question. Eco-engineering is needed in a wide variety of areas of human life for various reasons. For example, industrial enterprises need it within the framework of socio-environmental responsibility to their employees and the region. Manufacturers who want to export their products to European countries need to comply with the EU standards for greenhouse gas emissions in their production. Food production facilities need it in order to assign the status of "organic" or "eco” to their products. Environmental engineering is also needed for entire cities - it helps in combating flooding, solving climate change related problems, improving the energy efficiency of buildings.
- Speaking of the energy efficiency of buildings and structures, what affects it and how to increase it?
- Energy efficiency is the rational use of energy resources. If the building is ineffective, then during its operation a lot of electricity will be consumed: in summer for air conditioning, in winter for heating. This will entail additional costs. To avoid this, we recommend using modern materials - in particular, PPGI with reflective properties. Due to the reflection of sunlight from the roof, the building will heat up less in the summer. Note that due to buildings and roads heating up in warmer periods, the temperature in the city is 3 to 5 degrees Celsius higher than in the countryside! At the same time, with a well-insulated roof, heat will be better preserved indoors in winter.
- Summarizing the above, how will you answer our main question: does a green engineer need PPGI?
- PPGI has numerous advantages for eco-engineering due to its properties attributed to various types of coatings: resistance to aggressive media and UV radiation, to mechanical effects, fire safety, reflective properties and others. In addition, PPGI have high aesthetic characteristics. By the way, biophilic design is quite widespread in green construction. “Biophilia” is literally a love for nature, for natural materials, living plants. Biophilic design contributes to improving people’s mental state, improving their performance. However, natural materials often have limitations for use from the point of view of safety and expediency. That’s when textured polymer coatings with wood pattern or stone pattern come in handy.
HPBS (https://hpb-s.com/ru/hpbs/) was founded in 2015. The company provides consulting services on environmental engineering of cities and buildings, LEED, BREEAM and WELL certification, as well as digital modeling of design solutions.